require

verb (mainly transitive; may take a clause as object or an infinitive)

1.

to have need of; depend upon; want

2.

to impose as a necessity; make necessary: this work requires precision

3.

(also intransitive) to make formal request (for); insist upon or demand, esp as an obligation

4.

to call upon or oblige (a person) authoritatively; order or command: to require someone to account for his actions

Derived Forms

requirable, adjectiverequirer, noun

Usage note

The use of require to as in I require to see the manager or you require to complete a special form is thought by many people to be incorrect: I need to see the manager; you are required to complete a special form

Word Origin

C14: from Old French requerre, from Vulgar Latin requaerere (unattested) to seek after, from Latin requīrere to seek to know, but also influenced by quaerere to seek

The original sense of this word has been taken over by request (v.). Sense of "demand (someone) to do (something)" is from 1751, via the notion of "to ask for imperatively, or as a right" (late 14c.). Related: Required; requiring.